It had been a lifetime since I had been to see the Winterhaven light displays. And it did not disappoint us.
Long gone are the long lines of cars snaking through the small neighborhood of mid century homes. Now you can either ride a trolley, take a hayride wagon or walk. Sal and I opted to walk with our Meet Me Wednesday crew.
This is the 75th year for the north Tucson holiday lights show. If you live in the neighborhood bounded by Country Club on the east, Tucson Boulevard on the west, Fort Lowell on the south and stretching to Prince Road on the north, you are expected to decorate your home for the season.
And not one neighbor disappointed us.
These folks are so serious that the north-south bike boulevard, Treat Avenue, is called Christmas Avenue in Winterhaven.
This being the 75th year we heard the story of how it all started. According to one of our walking group who had lived in the neighborhood for over 40 years (her kids now live in the home) the light show all started back in the late 1940s. The plot of land was a turf farm and the farmer was interested in selling lots to potential home developers. To draw attention to these far flung (from downtown) plots, they decorated the trees in the area with lights and Christmas displays.
And Winterhaven was born.
Our night was spent on foot. Candy cane and hot toddy in hand, Sal and I took on the nearly 2- mile walk. We saw Grinches and reindeer (the blow up kind) and Santas uncountable.
A nice tradition to help us find home in our new/old home.
Relentless
(*all photos by the author and a fellow Meet Me walker, Nancy, CHS 78)
